diff --git a/gui/test/projectfile/testprojectfile.cpp b/gui/test/projectfile/testprojectfile.cpp
index 43bf382d629..e20b2ab38e2 100644
--- a/gui/test/projectfile/testprojectfile.cpp
+++ b/gui/test/projectfile/testprojectfile.cpp
@@ -25,8 +25,6 @@
 #include "settings.h"
 #include "suppressions.h"
 
-#include <string>
-
 #include <QFile>
 #include <QIODevice>
 #include <QList>
@@ -45,9 +43,6 @@ Platform::Platform() = default;
 Library::Library() = default;
 Library::~Library() = default;
 struct Library::LibraryData {};
-bool ImportProject::sourceFileExists(const std::string & /*file*/) {
-    return true;
-}
 
 void TestProjectFile::loadInexisting() const
 {
diff --git a/lib/importproject.cpp b/lib/importproject.cpp
index 1af563ed439..3f465da606c 100644
--- a/lib/importproject.cpp
+++ b/lib/importproject.cpp
@@ -430,10 +430,6 @@ bool ImportProject::importCompileCommands(std::istream &istr)
 #endif
         else
             path = Path::simplifyPath(directory + file);
-        if (!sourceFileExists(path)) {
-            printError("'" + path + "' from compilation database does not exist");
-            return false;
-        }
         FileSettings fs{path, Standards::Language::None, 0}; // file will be identified later on
         fsParseCommand(fs, command); // read settings; -D, -I, -U, -std, -m*, -f*
         std::map<std::string, std::string, cppcheck::stricmp> variables;
@@ -1547,8 +1543,3 @@ void ImportProject::printError(const std::string &message)
 {
     std::cout << "cppcheck: error: " << message << std::endl;
 }
-
-bool ImportProject::sourceFileExists(const std::string &file)
-{
-    return Path::isFile(file);
-}
diff --git a/lib/importproject.h b/lib/importproject.h
index 8a03474528a..54438584ff9 100644
--- a/lib/importproject.h
+++ b/lib/importproject.h
@@ -102,7 +102,6 @@ class CPPCHECKLIB WARN_UNUSED ImportProject {
 protected:
     bool importCompileCommands(std::istream &istr);
     bool importCppcheckGuiProject(std::istream &istr, Settings &settings, Suppressions &supprs);
-    virtual bool sourceFileExists(const std::string &file);
 
 private:
     struct SharedItemsProject {
diff --git a/test/cli/project_test.py b/test/cli/project_test.py
index e95c1df61e8..47752e08bd4 100644
--- a/test/cli/project_test.py
+++ b/test/cli/project_test.py
@@ -49,11 +49,19 @@ def test_json_entry_file_not_found(tmpdir):
          "output": "bug1.o"}
     ]
 
-    expected = "'{}' from compilation database does not exist".format(os.path.join(tmpdir, "bug1.cpp"))
+    project_file = os.path.join(tmpdir, "file.json")
+    missing_file = os.path.join(tmpdir, "bug1.cpp")
+    missing_file_posix = missing_file
+
     if sys.platform == "win32":
-        expected = expected.replace('\\', '/')
+        missing_file_posix = missing_file_posix.replace('\\', '/')
 
-    __test_project_error(tmpdir, "json", json.dumps(compilation_db), expected)
+    with open(project_file, 'w') as f:
+        f.write(json.dumps(compilation_db))
+
+    ret, _, stderr = cppcheck(["--project=" + str(project_file)])
+    assert 0 == ret
+    assert f"{missing_file}:1:0: error: File is missing: {missing_file_posix} [syntaxError]\n\n^\n" == stderr
 
 
 def test_json_no_arguments(tmpdir):
diff --git a/test/testimportproject.cpp b/test/testimportproject.cpp
index 843c42c0d11..71b1ba5c6dc 100644
--- a/test/testimportproject.cpp
+++ b/test/testimportproject.cpp
@@ -38,10 +38,6 @@ class TestImporter : public ImportProject {
     using ImportProject::importCppcheckGuiProject;
     using ImportProject::importVcxproj;
     using ImportProject::SharedItemsProject;
-
-    bool sourceFileExists(const std::string & /*file*/) override {
-        return true;
-    }
 };